Things to Do on the Gold Coast

"Things to do on the Gold Coast" covers a lot of ground — literally. The city stretches from the Southport Broadwater in the north to the New South Wales border in the south, with the Hinterland rising up behind the coastal strip. Most first-time visitors default to the theme parks and stop there, but the coast and hinterland both reward a bit more exploring.

By category

• Theme parks: Movie World, Sea World, Dreamworld, WhiteWater World and Paradise Country/Outback Spectacular — see our full theme parks guide.
• Beaches & surf: Twenty-plus beaches, from the high-rise backdrop of Surfers Paradise to the quiet stretches of Palm Beach — see our beaches guide.
• Wildlife: Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary is the standout, with native Australian animals in a bushland setting rather than a typical zoo layout.
• Views: SkyPoint, the observation deck near the top of Q1 in Surfers Paradise, gives the single best coastline view on the Gold Coast — a solid rainy-day option too.
• Hinterland day trips: Springbrook and Lamington National Parks sit inland, offering rainforest walks, waterfalls and cooler air — a genuine change of pace from the beach strip, roughly 45–60 minutes' drive from the coast.
• Free & low-cost: Beachfront walks, national park trails, the Southport Broadwater Parklands swimming lagoon, and the evening markets that run in several suburbs.

A rough framework for a week

If you've got around a week: budget two to three days for theme parks (realistically one park per day), a day for the beach and suburb you're based in, a day trip to the Hinterland, and a day exploring a suburb you're not staying in — Burleigh Heads or Currumbin if you're based up north, Broadbeach or Southport if you're based south.